New Ford partnership will tap driver data for UBI programs
Ford and Arity have teamed up to give drivers greater control over what they pay for auto insurance.
Ford Motor Company and Arity, a mobility and analytics company, announced their new partnership on Feb. 19 that will provide insurers with the data needed to deliver secure usage-based insurance (UBI) programs to eligible connected Ford and Lincoln vehicle owners.
Drivers can voluntarily share their driving data from activated Ford vehicles to Arity’s centralized telematics platform that will be delivered to insurers via an Arity API. Drivesight®, Arity’s regulator-reviewed driving score, provides an accurate view of vehicle usage and driving behaviors, as well as an indication of risk that any participating insurer can use to price auto insurance coverage.
“We continue to invest in embedded vehicle connectivity to help our customers get as much value from their vehicles as possible,” Alex Purdy, director of business operations, enterprise connectivity at Ford, said in a statement. “Arity helps make this possible by enabling insurers to offer customers with eligible Ford vehicles more personalized insurance based on how, when, and how often they drive, without the need for any additional hardware.”
UBI programs are gradually gaining popularity amongst consumers with the promise of more personalized, and oftentimes, more affordable auto coverage. And although the current adoption rate in the U.S. is under 5%, the global UBI market is expected to grow by about 25% through 2026.
Ford isn’t the only carmaker to see the benefits of leveraging telematics for insurance purposes. In November 2020, GM announced its new insurance agency, OnStar Insurance Services, which intends to use its unique understanding of vehicles to offer a secure, fair, personalized and easy-to-use digital insurance experience for drivers.
UBI programs also are designed to promote safer driving and allow insurers to deepen customer relationships with individualized pricing and incentives based on driver behaviors.
“Arity’s unique ability to identify and quantify driving behaviors best positions insurers to provide the most accurate price while giving consumers the transparency and control they so strongly desire,” said Gary Hallgren, president of Arity, in a release. “We are proud to work together with Ford as we provide insurers an end-to-end solution that enables them to expand their connected vehicle technologies so they can quickly and easily grow their usage-based program adoption.”
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